


N is for Nose

by Jazzie



Series: A to Z of Danny Whump! [14]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 14:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9824408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazzie/pseuds/Jazzie
Summary: Danny has always had a good nose for trouble, today is no different.





	

Danny arrived at the 5-0 offices early this particular morning.  He’d been unable to sleep knowing that there was a mountain of paperwork from their last case to complete.  Entering the main office, he walked through the darkened room and headed for his own corner office.  He opened the blinds to allow the light in and then turned on his PC, while that booted up he returned to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee, waiting patiently until it was done before filling a mug and returning to his office.  Closing the door he settled down behind his desk.

Opening up the relevant file, he turned his attention to completing the form.  How did you make threatening a suspect with electrocution sound like you came by your information using correct procedure?  That was Danny’s lot in life, to explain away Super SEAL’s penchant for threatening, cajoling and otherwise breaking procedures for getting confessions and information out of suspects.

Talking of Super SEAL, Steve entered the main office and switched on all the computers.  He waved at Danny before turning to enter the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee and then into his own office.  Hopefully, Danny thought, to start his own paperwork.

A few minutes later the same ritual was followed by Chin and Kono.  Danny knew they’d be doing their paperwork.  Kono, as the rookie, may be picking up some of Steve’s bad habits, but she was also picking up some of Danny’s and Chin’s good ones, meaning that she knew better than to put off the paperwork.

Reading over the form he had just filled in before he printed it off, Danny realised that something was a little off.  Somewhere in the back of his mind he’d realised it since returning to his office with his coffee.  He paused, wondering what it could be, looking around the office to see if something was out of place, which it wasn’t.  Shrugging he started to turn his attention back to the form when he realised what it was.  It wasn’t anything out of place so much as it was a smell, the smell of almonds. 

Danny pushed his chair back and moved to his closed office door, pushing the red box that was the fire alarm on his way out.  The others hurried out of their own offices as Danny pulled the office door closed behind him, hopefully giving them more time to get out of the building.

“There’s the smell of almonds in my office,” he stated as he stared at Steve.

Immediately the SEAL knew what Danny was talking about and quickly took charge, “Everyone out of the building,” Steve pulled his cell out and put a call into dispatch, wanting to ensure that the alarm was treated as real and not as a drill.  He requested EMTs and Hazmat be dispatched as soon as possible, advising that it was possible cyanide gas had been released in the 5-0 offices.  He ushered his team out of the building before him, making sure he was the last to leave.  That meant he was the one to see Danny sit himself down on the steps to the Palace and drop his head in his hands, “Danny?”

“Dizzy, headache,” was the only response he got.

“Shit.  How long were you in your office for this morning?” Steve knelt down in front of him.

“About twenty minutes.”

“Well if someone has released cyanide gas into the offices it must be at a low concentration otherwise you’d be dead!”

“Wow, thanks,” Danny managed to get out, sending his partner a baleful glare, somehow not feeling comforted at all, as he noticed he was starting to feel a little short of breath.  Perhaps that was just because he was a little bit panicked by the circumstances.  Not that he’d admit that to anyone, he may not be a SEAL but he knew what cyanide gas could do if you inhaled or ingested enough of it.

“Steve?  Danny?”  Chin and Kono hurried back towards them.

“I think Danny’s been exposed, ambulance is already on the way.  Is everyone out?”  Steve answered for both of them.

“Yeah,” Kono glanced from Danny to Steve and back again.

“’M alright,” Danny stated.  This was belied by his next question, “What’s going on?  Why are we outside?”

“Where are the paramedics?  He needs oxygen!”  Steve looked around as if the medics would appear out of thin air, before turning back to try to reassure his partner, “Danny, you pulled the alarm, you said you smelt almonds in your office.  We need to get you to the hospital.”

“I’m fine,” trying to prove his point the detective stood up, only to find himself overwhelmed by dizziness.  He would have face planted on the sidewalk if it hadn’t been for the combined efforts of Chin and Steve.

Rolling his eyes Steve spoke again, “No, Danny, you’re not, you will be though.”  Sirens sounded down the street and an ambulance came into view, “Kono, go and direct the medics here.”

Kono ran off to meet the ambulance and came back a moment later with two very familiar faces in tow.

“Andy, Jake.  Danny’s been exposed to cyanide gas, possibly for up to twenty minutes.  He’s dizzy, complaining of a headache and short of breath, as well as a bit confused.”

Jake knelt next to Danny and grabbed his wrist then took his blood pressure, while Andy, knelt the other side and wasted no time in hooking him up to an IV and placing an oxygen mask over Danny’s nose and mouth.

“Pulse is slow, blood pressure high,” Jake shared with his partner, “Resps high.  Let’s get him in the back of the bus and out of these clothes.”

Danny was helped over to the ambulance, the door was closed behind the medics and they assisted their patient out of his potentially contaminated clothes, revealing reddened skin.  Once stripped to his boxers they settled him on the gurney and covered him with a blanket.  The clothes were placed in a sealed bag.

Andy stepped out leaving Jake to monitor his condition.  He found Steve standing waiting and handed the bag of clothes to him.  Danny spotted him too and although confused by what was going on he knew that his partner was torn about staying at the Palace or coming to the hospital with him.   
“Stay,” he instructed.

“Danny?”

“You need,” he drew in some much needed oxygen, “to stay here.”

“No, I need to go with my partner.”

“Nothing you can do,” more oxygen, “to help me except catch,” another breath, “whoever caused this.”

Chin and Kono had joined him at the back of the ambulance by this point, “He’s got a point brah,” the older detective pointed out.

Steve rubbed a hand through his hair.  He wanted to so much to go with Danny, but he knew his partner was right.  His place was here helping to contain the chaos, getting the offices cleared and then an investigation started, “Alright,” he agreed reluctantly, “Kono, you go with him.”

“No need,” Danny insisted.

“Danny, we don’t know what the hell is going on right now.  Either Kono goes with you or I do!”

“We need to get Danny to the hospital, so whatever you’re going to do, do it now!” Jake ordered, he wasn’t happy with his patient’s condition and they needed to get him to the hospital for a doctor to administer an antidote as soon as possible.

“OK.”

“Good.  I’ll come to see you as soon as I can,” Steve assured him, “Kono, keep me informed.”

“Yes Boss,” Kono replied jumping into the back of the ambulance beside Danny as Chin closed the doors.

Steve and Chin stood and watched the ambulance pulling away and hoped that their friend’s exposure had been limited.  Turning around they faced a scene of organised chaos.  All the Palace employees were gathered out the front of the building at their designated points.  The Hazmat team had just pulled up and were pointed in their direction by a member of HPD who had been tasked with keeping the employees back and enabling the people that needed access through.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Kono watched silently as Jake monitored Danny as they drove to the hospital.  She had a grip of Danny’s hand and was absentmindedly rubbing her thumb over the back of it.

Jake smiled at her in an attempt to reassure her and then picked up the radio to contact the hospital to let them know what they were coming in with.

“QMC this is paramedic 756.”

“Go ahead Jake.”

“We have a thirty five year old male, Detective Williams, with suspected cyanide toxicity.  Patient was having difficulty breathing when we arrived on scene.  Resps 43; pulse 50; BP 145/95.  Latest vitals show; resps now 10; pulse 115; BP 78/52.  I have a litre of saline up and he’s being given 100% O2.”

“Copy that Jake.  Doctor Jensen is standing by.”

“Five minutes out,” replied Jake before turning his attention back to his patient, noticing his eyes were closed, “Come on Danny, stay with me,” the medic rubbed his knuckles into his patient’s sternum and earned himself a glare from the man, “That’s it.”

The ambulance pulled up to the ER and Jake jumped out.  Kono stayed back allowing him, Andy and the other medical staff that had greeted them to unload the now unconscious Danny, no amount of sternum rubbing had woken him up a second time, before she climbed out and followed his gurney into the hospital.

“Jake?” asked Doctor Jensen, nodding at Kono to let her know he’d seen her.

“Steve advised that Danny has been exposed to cyanide gas for up to twenty minutes.  When we arrived on scene his resps were 43 and he was short of breath and was bradycardic and hypertensive.  On the way here his resps dropped to 10 and he is now tachycardic and hypotensive.”

“Trauma one,” instructed the Doctor on hearing the stats.  His concern had increased because as cyanide poisoning progressed the symptoms changed from slow heart rate and high blood pressure, to fast heart rate and low blood pressure.  He gave a list of blood tests he would require in order to fully treat Danny, however if Steve said it was cyanide poisoning then he believed him, so he would start the antidote treatment straightaway before his patient’s condition deteriorated any further.

“Doctor Jensen, his O2 sats are dropping further,” one of the nurses in the room stated.

“Bag him,” instructed the doctor, not wanting to place him on a ventilator if he didn’t have to.  He hoped by using the bag it would increase his respiration enough until the antidote could be administered and take effect, “Get me 10ml of a 3% solution of sodium nitrite.  Monitor his BP; also give him sodium thiosulfate 50ml of a 25% solution.”

After thirty minutes Doctor Jensen ordered more bloods to be taken and once he confirmed Danny’s vitals were stabilising and they were able to stop bagging him and place him back on oxygen; he requested that the nurse administer another half dose of both drugs.

“Doctor Jensen the blood results are back,” a nurse handed him a piece of paper.

“Alright give him 1.2 ml methylene blue of a 1% solution, make sure that it’s given over several minutes,” Doctor Jensen instructed, “I’m going to speak to his friends, keep a close eye on his vitals, if anything changes, no matter how small, come and get me.”

“Yes Doctor.”

Walking out to the waiting room he was surprised to find that Kono was still the only member of the team present, it must have shown on his face when he approached.  
“Doctor Jensen, Chin and Steve are back at the Palace trying to figure out how this happened and who might be behind it,” she quickly explained, though she didn’t really know why she felt she had to justify her teammate’s absence, “How’s Danny?”

The pair sat down and Doctor Jensen made sure he was facing her, “He’s still unconscious at the moment but stable.  We’ve managed to bring his heart rate, BP and breathing to within normal range.  He’s been given two drugs that will counteract the cyanide however, we have to be careful as one of the drugs, sodium nitrite, which removes the cyanide from the cells forms methemoglobin, which cuts down the blood’s ability to carry oxygen to the tissues, this can cause problems of its own.  We’ve added another drug which will counteract that but it’s a bit of a balancing act and Danny will have to be closely monitored.  I’m going to arrange for him to be transferred to the ICU and you’ll be able to see him then.”

“Is he going to be alright?”

“There is a chance that he could suffer some neurological problems from this but we won’t know more until he regains consciousness, which will be in his own good time.  I’ll let you know when he’s been moved so you can see him.”

“Thanks Doctor Jensen,” Kono managed a weak smile.  After he’d disappeared behind the ER doors again she pulled out her cell to update Steve.

An hour later Kono was sitting by Danny’s bed in ICU.  She had been told that his vitals had gone awry again, so had been given another dose of the antidotes and he would be continuously monitored for the next twenty four hours.  If there were no further problems in that time he would be moved to another ward for a further twenty four hours, before being released into someone’s care.  That’s if he regained consciousness, which he was yet to do.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve and Chin had been waiting patiently outside the Palace for Hazmat to finish up in their offices when Kono rang with her first update.  It wasn’t the all-out positive news they’d hoped for but it wasn’t all bad.

Just as Steve hung up a man appeared in front of them removing the helmet of his Hazmat suit which had just been sprayed down.

“Lieutenant Commander McGarrett?”

“That’s me, you can call me Steve,” he responded before introducing Chin.

“I’m Joseph Lando, I head this team.  How’s your man doing?”

“Stable.  He’s been given the medication to counteract the cyanide poisoning, now it’s a case of wait and see.”

“I can tell you this, he was lucky.  Someone set up a booby trap of sorts.  When Detective Williams pulled the blinds it was connected to a fancy set up that triggered a mixing of specific chemicals, which released the gas.  The level was 125 ppm, which is dangerous but luckily for Williams, he could smell it.  Had he been in his office another ten minutes we’d be having a different conversation.  I’ve bagged the items that were used, they’ll need to be decontaminated but I’ve handed them over to your forensic scientist, Charlie Fong, who can run tests on them as long as he uses precautions.”

“Thanks Joseph.”

“My team will finish decontaminating your offices once Charlie has finished collecting any prints or evidence but I wouldn’t plan on getting back in there until later this afternoon.”

“OK, thanks.  We’ll go over to the hospital and check on Danny then.”  The two men got into Steve’s truck and headed to the hospital.

Entering Danny’s ICU room they found Kono sitting next to the bed with her hand on the detective’s.

“Hey, how is he?” Steve spoke in a quiet voice out of respect for where they were.

“They just gave him another dose of the antidotes but they hope that will be the last time,” she turned weary eyes on her boss and cousin.

“You alright Cuz?”

“Not really Chin,” she replied honestly and got up from beside the bed when her cousin held out his arms to her and pulled her into a hug. 

Steve took up her place next to the bed, “Why don’t you two go and get some lunch, I’ll stay with Danny.”

“Sure, do you want anything?” Chin asked, knowing that their boss needed some time with his best friend.

“Just grab me a sandwich, thanks,” he watched the cousins leave the room before turning his attention back to the man in the bed, “Alright Detective Williams, enough sleeping, time to wake up and let me know you’re OK,” that garnered no response so he just sighed and grasped his friend’s hand, silently willing him to open his eyes.

Nearly an hour later movement from the bed drew Steve’s eyes back from where he’d been staring out of the window at the beautiful sunny day, which was so at odds with the SEAL’s mood, “Danny?” he stood up to better look at his friend’s face.

“Steve?” the reply muffled through the oxygen mask that was still present.

“Yeah, come on; open your eyes for me.”

“Tired.”

“Well I don’t see how when you’ve been unconscious since they brought you in,” Steve smiled slightly.

Danny’s eyes cracked open at that.  “Brought me in?”

“You’re in hospital Danno, ICU to be precise.  Gave us quite a scare,” he leaned forward and pushed the call button.

“Huh.  What happened?” he seemed to suddenly realise that there was an oxygen mask on his face and reached up to remove it.

“No, Danny, leave that on,” the familiar voice of Akela came from beside Steve.  “I’ll go and page Doctor Jensen and let him know you’re back with us.”

“What do you remember?”

Once again the patient reached up to remove the mask, but Steve’s hand grasped his firmly.  Danny glared at Steve but there was no heat in it given how tired and confused he was.  Resigning himself to the annoying mask he tried to remember.  “I got into the office.  Reports to do.  Made coffee….”

“Anything else?”

“It’s a bit hazy,” his voice gained strength the longer he was awake, “Need a drink.”

“Ah, Danny, good to see you awake,” Doctor Jensen came into the room, “Akela, can you please get him a drink?”

Akela obliged removing the annoying mask long enough to help the detective have a few sips of water, then putting it back in place.

“How are you feeling Danny?”

“Tired.  Headache.”

“To be expected I’m afraid,” the doctor picked up his chart and reviewed the vitals recorded, “You’re doing much better now though, so I expect that you’ll start to feel better later today.  Akela, let’s change the mask for a nasal cannula.”

As soon as the mask was removed Danny had another question, “Can I go home soon?”

“You’ll be in ICU until tomorrow morning and then moved to a ward for another twenty four hours.  The short answer is no, you should know the drill by now Danny; you’re not getting out of here until we’re sure that you’re not suffering any ill effects.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.  I take it that I won’t be allowed to return to my apartment either.”

“No,” the doctor smiled.

“Figured.”

“Looks like I better make your bed up again.  Honestly I don’t know why I bother stripping it when you’re going to be back using it every few weeks!” Steve grinned cheekily.

“You still haven’t told me what happened.”

Steve immediately stopped grinning, “Someone released cyanide gas into your office.”

Danny raised an eyebrow, “Just my office?”

“It appears so.  Forensics team is still going over the offices.  They’re being hampered a little because they have to wear hazmat suits.  They can’t decontaminate until all of the evidence is collected, as decontamination will compromise the evidence.  We can’t get back in until later this afternoon.”

“Almonds.”

“What’s that?”

“I smelt almonds.”

“Yes, you did and the team leader for the Hazmat crew said it probably saved your life.”

“Huh,” was the only response Danny could come up with, as anything else he might have said was interrupted by a wide yawn.

“Alright, that’s enough chat for now.  You need to get some more rest Danny.”

Suddenly Danny realised there were two people missing and though he vaguely remembered Kono in the ambulance, now he needed to know that they hadn’t been taken ill or injured, “Chin?  Kono?”

“They’re both fine.  You shut your office door as you left and we got out straight away, so none of us were exposed,” reassured Steve.

“Where are they?” It wasn’t that Danny didn’t believe Steve but he needed to see for himself.

“They just went to get lunch.  I’ll call them…” before he could make a move to do exactly that the door to the room opened.

“Danny!” exclaimed Kono, rushing over to the bed and gently pulling him into a hug.

“You OK Babe?”

“You’re asking me?  Aren’t you the one suffering with cyanide poisoning?”

“Answer the question,” Danny instructed her.

“I’m fine Danny,” she squeezed his hand.

“Chin?”

“Right here brah, I’m also fine,” he placed a hand on Danny’s leg.

“That’s good,” another yawn split his face.

“OK, that’s enough.  Danny, get some rest,” Doctor Jensen ordered.

Giving one final glance round at his three friends, as if reassuring himself just once more that they were all fine, he let his eyes close and drifted off to sleep.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Danny breathed a sigh of relief as he finally left the hospital, even if he did have to sit in a wheelchair.  His recovery had been right on schedule, which meant he’d spent two days in the hospital but now he had to spend the next week at Steve’s until his follow up appointment, then, and only then, would Doctor Jensen let him know if he could go back to work.  Not full duty; it would just be desk work to begin with.  Danny was sure that would mean the team would save their paperwork up for him.

“You OK?” Steve asked, concerned.  The distinct red tinge that had been on Danny’s skin was now gone but he wasn’t sure if his friend was really ready to be released.  Although he’d never admit it, the SEAL put this slight nervousness down to the fact that they’d had no leads as to who had planted the cyanide in Danny’s office.

“I’m fine Steven!  Stop asking me that.  Doctor Jensen told you that I am ready to be released, so believe him if you don’t believe me.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you…”

“Look, I know you’re worried about who could be behind this but keeping me in the hospital longer than is necessary won’t actually make any difference to finding out who it was,” Danny stated reasonably.

“I’m not worried,” Steve denied, clearly a barefaced lie.

“Uh huh.  Rationally concerned then.”

“Alright, I’ll go with that,” conceded Steve helping Danny into the Camaro.

“Babe, I get it.  I’m also rationally concerned but whether I’m in the hospital, at yours or the office the facts will remain the same.”

“You’re not going into the office!”

“You would, out of that sentence, hear that part!” Danny rolled his eyes.

“I heard you trying to persuade Doctor Jensen to let you go into the office before your check up next week!”

“I’m going to be bored!” he folded his arms across his chest and avoided, just barely, sticking out his bottom lip in a pout.

“No you won’t.  Doctor Jensen said that you’ll be tired for a while yet so you’ll be busy resting!”

“Oooo exciting!” sarcasm laced the words.

“Now you’re just being childish.”

“Sorry.”

“I know you don’t like the idea of being stuck at home, especially given that it’s not even your home, but you need to make the most of it.  It’s only a week and it could have been so much worse,” Steve was avoiding saying that he could have suffered neurological damage, because Danny already knew that and at his check up with the doctor this morning everyone concerned had been relieved to find that there was no mental deficit.

The rest of the journey to Steve’s was quiet but it was a comfortable silence, both men just taking the time to be glad that Danny was still alive and well.

Naturally when they arrived at Steve’s both Chin and Kono were there waiting.  Unfortunately they now had a routine when one of the team was hurt.  Steve or Danny would collect the injured party from the hospital, unless it was both of them hurt, drive to Steve’s house where, regardless of who had been hurt, the injured party would be staying.  The other team mates would get in groceries appropriate to the guest and would then wait for them to arrive from the hospital.  The time between reaching Steve’s and going to bed would be spent either in front of the TV or sitting out on the decking relaxing together.  Food would be ordered after a lengthy discussion as to what the ill or injured person desired and the healthy team members would fuss and hover.

This time was no different; in fact Danny thought it was somewhat worse in that the hovering was more excessive than normal.  He decided to put this down to the fact that, unlike previous times, they didn’t know who had done this and the team had come up with nothing.  There was nothing in the evidence collected to indicate who it had been, nobody for Steve to hunt down and hang off a building or dump in a shark cage.

Danny started to tire quite early on in the evening and excused himself to go to bed.  All three team members were quick to ask if he was OK and to assure themselves there wasn’t more to his tiredness.  The detective wanted to tell them to pull themselves together but he understood their frustration and concern.  He wished them all goodnight and went upstairs to bed, leaving the three to carry on watching TV if they wanted.  He was pretty sure nothing was keeping him awake tonight.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Danny woke to the sound of a phone ringing, at first he thought it was part of the dream he’d been having but quickly realised that it was actually his cell as it lit up the room and vibrated across the nightstand.  Looking at the time he noticed it was only 2:30 AM.

Unable to reach it from where he was laying; he quickly sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed hoping to answer it before it woke Steve.  Picking it up, he answered not even checking the display in his hurry.

“Williams.”

“Still breathing then Detective?  That’s a shame.  Not quite what I had planned.”

Danny’s breath stuck in his throat and he pulled the cell away to look at the display but it just showed unknown number, “Who is this?”

“I’m hurt that you don’t recognise my voice Daniel.”

“That’s Detective Williams to you!” growled Danny.

“Oh come now, that’s just so formal, that isn’t how friends speak to each other.”

At a sound at the door Danny looked up and saw Steve in the doorway, eyes wide in question.  Danny flipped his phone on to speaker.

“You’re no friend of mine!”

“You wound me with your attitude Detective Williams, maybe if I’d used more cyanide we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Steve’s eyes widened and he quickly stepped out of the room to grab his own cell and request HPD run a trace on Danny’s.

“Well why don’t you tell me where you are, so I can personally thank you for screwing up.”

“Who said I screwed up?  Maybe I just want to have some fun.”

“Fun?  You have a sick sense of what is fun then!”

“Well a grenade didn’t get you.  A knife to the femoral artery barely slowed you down; I figured cyanide would work but if you hire boys to do a man’s job…”

“Warner!”

“Ah, how astute of you Detective!” the sneer could clearly be heard in the other man’s voice.

“Why?” Danny knew he needed to keep Warner on the phone for HPD to stand a chance of getting the trace.

“Why what, exactly?”

“Why are you so intent on trying to kill me?”

“Oh, it’s nothing personal… Actually that’s a lie, it’s very personal.  I lost the business that it took me years to cultivate on Oahu because of you!  I’ve had to start again, which, let me tell you, is no fun.”

“I was doing my job!”

“As I am doing mine.”

“How do you work that out?”

“My job is to ensure that law enforcement get the message that they can’t come after those in positions of power!”

“Not that I particularly want to put any of my team in the firing line in my place but why me as opposed to anyone else?” really Danny didn’t want the answer to that question he was just buying time.

“Lieutenant Commander McGarrett is a no go for me.  Not only is he head of 5-0 but he’s a Navy SEAL.  Go after him and I would have the Navy, HPD _and_ 5-0 after me.  Detective Kelly and Officer Kalakaua have far too many family members involved in law enforcement.  You, Detective Williams, have nobody but your team, killing you shows that I am powerful enough to reach someone in 5-0 without bringing the whole of the Navy and HPD down on my head.”  
Warner was clearly suffering from some sort of mental breakdown if he really thought that killing Danny wouldn’t lead to reprisals, not only from HPD but from his ex-colleagues on the NJPD.  He didn’t hesitate to tell Warner what he thought, “You’re delusional if you think that.  You kill a cop then the whole force will come after you.”

“Oh Detective, you’re just a haole, that’s how they say it isn’t it?”

“Give yourself up and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to prevent Commander McGarrett ditching you in shark infested waters, _after_ I’ve given you a nice bleeding wound to attract said sharks.”

“Oh dear, look at the time.  I must have woken you from your sleep.  I’ll let you get back to it.  Be sure to have sweet dreams.  Remember I’m coming for you, you won’t know when or how but I’m coming!” the man gave a maniacal laugh and hung up.

Danny sat on his bed and stared at the phone.  The calm he had managed to maintain while on the phone leaving him completely, as he flung his phone across the room causing it to shatter when it made contact with the wall.

Steve watched helplessly, not sure what he could say that would help as he held his phone to his ear waiting for HPD to advise if they’d got a location.  They had.  It was on the mainland, in Washington DC.  He barked orders for someone to contact Metro PD and ask them to check the location and call him with the outcome.

“He won’t be there,” stated Danny.

“It needs to be checked out,” Steve replied, entering the room and sitting next to Danny, placing an arm round his partner’s trembling shoulders, “Man, you’re freezing,” he immediately stood up and pushed at Danny until he got him to lay down so that he could cover him, “I’m going to make you a hot drink.” 

Before Danny could protest Steve had vanished.  Shivering from the shock of the call, Danny curled into a ball and yanked the covers tight around him and promptly zoned out.  He didn’t notice Steve come back with a mug of tea and place it on the nightstand, didn’t hear the knock on the front door as Chin and Kono arrived, didn’t hear them talking softly to him trying to reassure him.  Danny had completely shut down in order to process this new threat.

Steve’s phone ringing about an hour after the end of the call with Warner was the first thing to penetrate Danny’s fog filled mind.  Lifting his eyes he met the concerned ones of Chin and Kono.

“How long have you been here?” he asked quietly.

“Almost an hour,” Kono replied softly.

“Steve called and we headed straight here,” Chin told him.

“Sorry.”

“What for?” Steve asked coming back into the room with a fresh mug of tea.

Kono assisted Danny to sit up propping his back against pillows before passing him the tea, helping him steady it in shaking hands.

“Zoning out.”

“It was a lot to take in.  How are you feeling now?” concern was all that Danny could hear in his tone, no indication of ridicule as Danny had at first feared there might be.

“I’m not really sure!  I don’t know why but I never even considered Warner.”

“None of us did.”

“Metro PD call?” Danny nodded his head at the phone held in Steve’s hand.

“Yeah.  He was gone by the time they got to the address.  The cell phone was left there.”

“Figured as much.”

“We’ll find him Danny, I promise.”

“I know,” Danny gave a weak smile in Steve’s direction.  There was no doubt in his mind that they would find Warner eventually, the only question was would Danny live to see it happen.

“You need to rest,” Kono took the empty mug from him and shifted back to allow him to shuffle down the bed.  Once he was settled she pulled the covers back up around his shoulders.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep now,” Danny shrugged from under the covers.

“We can probably get you something to help,” Chin suggested.

“I’d rather not.”

“Chin and I are staying here for the rest of tonight.  We know that Warner is in DC or at least he was, you’re safe.”

Steve could see that although Danny appreciated it, he wasn’t convinced, “I’ll stay in here with you,” he promised.

“OK.  Thanks,” it was a testament to how much the phone call had unsettled the New Jersey man that there was no sarcastic remark and that he just capitulated.  Danny knew without a shadow of a doubt that with Steve in the same room, Chin and Kono also in the house, that he would feel safe and protected, which, just for tonight, was what he needed.

Tomorrow morning he would pull up his big boy pants and contact some of his friends on the mainland.  Come hell or high water Shane Warner would be found and he was going to prison for what he had done, not just to Danny but to families across Hawaii who had lost loved ones because of the illegal arms that the man sold.

Tonight though, for tonight he’d allow himself to be protected and cosseted by his Ohana.


End file.
